The invention relates to a seal and more particularly to a debris tolerant seal disposed at the inlet end of a rotary combustor utilized to incinerate municipal solid waste.
During operation of a rotary combustor that burns municipal solid waste the combustor jams quite frequently due to waste material which includes metal objects such as bolts, pipes, universal joints and sundry other metal objects getting stuck between the rotary combustor and the stationary feed chute. The problem arises because the shroud ring is not round and is not concentric with the centerline of the combustor. The ring header is neither round, concentric nor perpendicular to the center line of the combustor. The area where the seal must be installed has a variable inside and outside diameter in both radial and axial directions and to further complicate the matter there is relative thermal axial and radial displacement in the sealing area. High temperature and a corrosive environment also add to the problem.